I wasn’t always this way. My parents love to repeat the story of how I refused to do anything but kick when presented with a ball as a child, something they had to frequently remind me of when I complained about having to resort to indoor track for a winter sport in high school.

That’s probably why it still takes a little coaxing. Still preferring to just kick, I’ve never strayed too far from my soccer player comfort zone of running, stretching and some basic strength training.

But over the years, thanks to some good advice from coaches about using the same muscles in the same ways all the time and due to some unfortunate if not entirely unexpected overuse injuries, I’ve added spinning, Pilates and swimming to my normal exercise routine.